For Christmas Lindsea made me these and I finally found the perfect place!

This is written in the inside of a cookbook.  

An apple pie filling recipe written by my grandma Helen.

Valentines Day Project

As many of you know, Ste and I love doing DIY projects together.  He discovered a really fun one that we did on Valentine's Day.  We painted an enlarged pixelated picture of the Draper Temple.  What better way to spend Valentine's Day than painting a fun  picture of the place you were sealed in?  It was SO much fun! 

We went to Michaels to get the Canvas and paint.  We saw the perfect size canvas was on sale for buy 3 for 1 and they were originally $18.  We thought it was an awesome deal.  When we went to check out, they each rang up at about $6.  The cashier said that the sale price would show up at the end.  We told her that we thought it was right but she said she thought it would go down more. So, she took an additional $11 off.  We got three 22 x 28 canvases for $6.  How awesome is that?

Stewart was in charge of the technical stuff at the beginning. Does that surprise anyone? haha We had to decide on the amount of squares we were willing to paint and what would look good.  We decided that the 616 squares 1x1 inch squares would look better, even though we needed some endurance to finish.  

This is what we modeled it from. 

We started off slow and steady, soon realizing that our method was so inefficient.

We decided it would be easier if one person painted while the other told them what shade to use next.  So much better!

With just a little sealer....

The finished product!!

Birthdays!

January is the month of birthdays in our house.  Marissa was able to come up just for my birthday! haha Don't worry, I'm not that naive.  People at work got me a nice little bag full of goodies and birthday decorations.  Naturally, Ste made me put it ALL on, even though it wasn't all to be worn. 

We had a nice dinner with a few friends at Red Robin.  Did you know they have bottomless chips, salsa, and guacamole? So, Ste made this game where each of us had to take a chips and dip it in either salsa or guac.  We only had two seconds to get it so we had to go FAST! If you took too long, broke a chip, or got the last chip you had to stand on your chair.  Well, Alex's girlfriend broke a chip and she didn't just stand on the chair. She spun around and waved her hands in the air.  That was also the first time we met her! haha 

A couple weeks later was Ste's birthday, Marissa decided to also come up the weekend before to celebrate and even made things facebook official on his birthday to make it an even grander day. :) She is so thoughful, huh? haha Anyway, I attempted to make a cool cake.  It ended up being a very random but pretty delicious one.  I followed directions from Pinterest on how to make a cake box mix taste like it was from a bakery.  So good! Made homemade whipped cream for the frosting.  I also made chocolate trees.  I was going to make a Yosemite cake because it is like ste's favorite place ever but didn't have time.  So, he got a fruity chocolate tree cake.  haha  

With our very generous birthday presents all around, we ordered some fun stuff off Amazon!  We got a kettle bell, a yoga dvd, two Pioneer Woman cookbooks, P90X3, and adjustable dumbbells!! We just started P90X today and are so excited to use all our new gear for it then load up on carbs and calories with recipes from the cookbooks. Oh ya!  

Ste's mom was able to visit this weekend.  Even though it was a quick trip we had tons of fun.  Ste and his mom went to the temple to do some family baptisms Saturday morning while I was working then had some of grandpa's yummy breakfast.  

Oh ya, Marissa got to come again this weekend.  You know, I am getting pretty good at tucking her in.  My future kids are gonna thank her one day.  I will thank her if they fall asleep as fast as she does when I tuck her in under the 199 blankets she has me put on.  

I have been busy quilting some fun things!  I made placemats for Ste's parents for Christmas. Yes, I know I was like over a month late. But they still liked them! haha I am also trying out hot pads.  I accidentally cut the first ones the wrong way but who doesn't want a skinny rectangular hot pad?  Pretty practical for casserole dishes you know. 

Also, I got my internship for the summer! I will be working with the adolescent girls at the Utah State Hospital.  I was having a hard time deciding if that was where I really wanted to go.  I volunteered there last semester and really enjoyed being around the girls and seeing how they grew within those four months.  However, my teacher kept telling me to go to lots of different places so it made me second guess my decision.  I interviewed at a couple different places and even though they sounded really good and would help me a lot, I felt that USH was the right place for me.  I am so excited but nervous at the same time.  It will certainly be an adventure!